London and Bradford seem to have made good signings for 2015 so far
If we don't make the top two, this will be a disaster as we will only get £200,000 the year after and how will we pay the contracts weve given out to Sam Barlow etc if we only get the lesser amount in 2016 .
Im not being negative BTW before anyone says I am, just looking at what could happen . Hate to see us left in this situation.

London and Bradford will be streets ahead in every department of everyone currently at this level but that was to be expected. I think the main thing is once you make the middle 8 is to slowly increase crowds which in turn will bring more money in to the club and given extra exposure may attract extra sponsorship etc.

Its a system that is going to be stacked very heavily against this years top 2 teams and its harsh but given funding they will likely end up being the bottom 2 in the middle 8, god knows how they can be expected to try and make up the gulf.

Simple answer is no its not a worry and no we wont need to make top two but that is not to say we wont be aspiring to do so.

If you talk to Derek or Paul privately they have set the goals on the field for next term already but as a club and business we are sustainable on TOP FOUR next season which lets be right being full time and all the investment we've made in staff etc we would be underachieving grossly not to finish top four. There are also terms in certain contracts which I am assured protect the club in future years against slippage and failure.

My personal view is Bradford and London will be very strong but the confidence I have in our people, structure and environment I feel we will compete for and win a place in the top two and make a really good account of ourselves in the middle eight.

Don't be so sure about that mate.

Quite.
//p.

Seems unfair how much extra Bradford and London get its nearly double what we get.

So where does it tell you what you get if you miss out on promotion and finish3rd or 4th out of middle 8 ?

Not sure where you are coming from.

We have to finish top 4 to get in the arm wrestle with the bottom 4 SL clubs then the top 4 out of the 8 go into SL for the following season. Finishing top 4 in both formats is the aim surely.

Passion and desire and team spirit will more than make up for the divide in funding. Look how we took Leeds all the way until those last 7 cruel minutes. Quite optimistic this team and Paul Rowley and his assistants can take Leigh all the way.

Where do you see yourselves gaining an advantage?

I'm not sure I would want to swap our situation for London's right now.

Not unfair at all if you think about it rationally from a business perspective. Both are coming down with full time Operations having always been SL clubs and having to dramatically restructure to meet the revised funding which is far less than they have ever been forced to operate with previously and having struggled to be competitive with the higher funding anyway!!!.

We on the other hand are working with a clean slate, debt free club and with the continuity of players and staff from a successful season and indeed having built over the last couple of years while investing and building the best possible team/club with the increased funding we will receive under the new structure.

I don't envy either Bradford or London at the moment life outside of SL will be daunting for them while on the flip side its never been more exciting for us.

Its up to us as Directors, Sponsors, Fans, LISA, to bridge that funding gap between us.

Lets focus on how we put more bums on seats and show the RL world like we have done for the last 16 months or so we are a club on the up and going places. Everything about what we've done on and off the pitch to date has laid the foundation we have to stay together and multiply to make the next step now so lets worry about that rather than ifs, bust and maybes hey???

Lets look at the positives, top up your glass to half full and enjoy the ride.

Have you not been watching what's been happening under the new board for the last 15/16 months and the best young coach and coaching team in the game over at Leigh Centurions mate???

We will operate with Max Salary Cap permitted in 2015 with a fully FT squad, supported by a competitive reserve/ 20s team and full time back room and support staff operating out of the finest Sporting Facility in the game bar none with a forward thinking committed Board all investing time as well as plenty money to bridge any gaps/ shortfalls that may or may not arise.

Our Chairman, Head of RL and Coaching team under promise and over deliver as rule but I can tell you during our tenure we have overachieved on every single goal we have ever set from day one and wont take the foot off the pedal any time soon rest assured.

That may give you a bit of an insight.

Cheers

Andy

London - we have fans! (our 18th man)
Bradford - we can manage our money

London and Bradford - we have a settled squad going into next season. Lots of new faces in their teams, who may or may not gel or turn out to be good buys. They both might be slow out of the blocks which will give us an advantage.

Plus our coach is better than either of theirs... nah, nah, nah, nah na!

Mrs Pike you need to get away from that husband of yours as his negativity is rubbing off on you.

The club as risen from the shambles of the previous boards and the only way is up.

Rarely come on here these days and have found you enjoy your rugby better without the constant doom mongers on here.

Great season looking forward to playing widnes hull and hull kr plus wakey back end of next season........world cup champions in 3 seasons

Desire & professionalism

Rest assured everyone! We aren't worried, so you don't need to be either!

I am worried I may get run over by a bus if I leave the house, I am worried I may get an incurable disease if I talk to folk, I am worried I could get a bad pint - I will carry on going out talking to folk and having a beer though - we all have choices

well said andy.......

May I throw something into the mix at this point. For next season the two relegated clubs, London and Bradford, are getting an extra £250k or something near on top of the £500k they will get next season. In 2016 there will be no teams on this 'parachute payment'. Now does that mean this £250k x 2 is available for extra Championship funding in 2016? Has the RFL suggested yet the levels of funding for beyond 2015 yet? Has anyone asked them?

Isn't prize money decided on were we finish in the final 8 as this determines your place for next year.
For example we could finish 4th in championship but 1st in the 8 and then be in SL with £1.8m?

Correct.

Sliding scale downwards from the top after next year based on finishing positions.

All this worrying





no wonder you are going Bald .

It will be a sliding scale based on finishing positions next year.

For example the three that finish 1,2,3 in the middle eight plus the play off winners will start as SL teams for 2016. and be ranked 9,10,11,12 in same order.

The sliding scale with then be 13,14,15,16, which will be 780, 780 etc as 2015.

What this means is if we finish 5th or 6th in middle eight we will be on 780k for 2016 and 7th/ 8th will be same as what us and 2nd will get in 2015 if that makes sense.

Andy

I think on evidence this season the new Bradford regime must have done a great job managing their money given they probably pay their squad only a little more than what Leigh have spent but have still managed to compete at times with teams spending close to 3 times what they have. History says that both teams have a very bad record when it comes to managing finances so really should not be taken in to account.

You are right about the new faces thing though which is one area Leigh could get a start on them but by the time the middle 8 comes around it will probably have little bearing and given both teams will have their squads just about sorted by this October it could have less relevance than it may normally have.

London are just a weird entity altogether as you say they wont get the crowds but that hasnt stopped them over performing for many years in SL but it has helped having a guy throwing money at them helping them stay afloat. If the money dries up they will go out of business so if they dont get results straight away then they could simply tumble leaving a space in the top 2 open for Leigh and a space in the top 4 for either Dewsbury or Fax.